They tell you to be yourself
but what good is it
when they mock your health
and your wealth?

‘Stand out from the crowd!’ they scream
‘Do your own thing!’
But how do you do your own thing
when the thing you want to do
is be like everyone else?

‘Stand up,’ they say, ‘even if you’re standing alone’
but how can you,
when they are quick to break your bones
and shatter your spirit,
your dreams?

‘We must do what is right,’ they’ll say;
that it is our responsibility to speak for those who are marginalised
underrepresented
undervalued
unnoticed.
But those saying such words are the first to criticise us for not being authentic,
for being too white for black,
too straight for gay,
too rich for poor,
too young for old,
too uneducated to question what we’re told,
to not take things at face value,
because faces can mask the truth.

We are imposed with double standards
but what if double did not exist
and standards were simply
to stand
and fight for what is right
and what is true
without anybody
humiliating,
mocking,
condescending
or scolding you.